Kendal Oral History Group aims to compile a picture of earlier times through the recorded memories of the area’s older residents. Mrs Margaret Hutchinson was born in 1915 in Endmoor. She was interviewed in 1993.

My dad, at the time, was a very strict Catholic.

Even if someone else died in the village and dad went to the funeral at Preston Patrick, he’d stay outside in the porch while the service was on and then go to the graveside.

My father had a sit up and beg bike with a carrier on the back, a flat carrier. We’d go to Mass in Kendal on Sundays and when we got a bit older Pat, my brother, and I would go on the back of my dad’s bike.

One sitting on the carrier and one trotting by the side for about a mile and then we’d swap round so we’d each do a bit of running and a bit of riding.

When we came back, we always stopped a the pub at Barrows Green.

Dad had a pint, we had a penny each and just up the hill there was a little toffee shop in someone’s front room and we had our pennorth of toffees and Dad had his pint and then we came home.

We didn’t think anything of the distance we had to run. However, there was great joy when I got a second-hand bike, when I was about 11 or 12 years old and I could ride in with me dad to church.

I hadn’t been riding very long and we went to church on New Road. Of course we went along Aynam Road (there was no one-way system then). Instead of getting off and walking up the pavement I tried to slide up the pavement on my bike and came off with such a thump – right down, flat on my bottom.

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